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OUR MISSION

The Residency Lab (The Lab) focuses on the advancement and acceleration of equity through systems change in educator preparation pathways. Through innovation, partnership, and critical discourse, The Lab supports residency and apprenticeship programs nationwide. We offer assistance through several critical areas: educator diversity and retention, program sustainability, technical support, and critical leadership. Central to our core values is a focus on transformation through educator convenings, partnership empowerment, and joy as we work side by side to change the face of education.

OUR VISION 

The Lab envisions a nation where K-12 education and higher education work in partnership to create equitable systems that champion educator quality and retention, sense of belonging, and joy. Our vision will be realized when we have an education system where all students, especially students of color, have powerful, prepared, supported, and representative educators. 

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WHAT WE DO 

The Lab fosters a vibrant learning community committed to operationalizing equity through common program quality standards and state resources – leading to a powerful system of California teacher residency programs. The Lab ensures that all California teacher residencies receive coherent, aligned, needs-based, research-based, developmentally appropriate support and technical assistance.  We serve as a conduit for California teacher residency partnerships to easily access a constellation of support that builds their capacity to design effective and sustainable teacher residency programs. Core to the Lab’s work is the Labs 10 Key Characteristics of Effective Residencies.  These have informed the planning and direction of CTC Grant Funded Teacher Residencies since Fall of 2021.  The Statewide Residency Technical Assistance Center (SRTAC) is our active state-wide collaborator. SRTAC provides targeted, developmentally appropriate technical assistance to program participants aligned with residency program outcomes.

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OUR VALUES

  • Social justice – to address issues of equality and racism ensuring every student is taught by excellent educators.
  • Integrity – to have honesty, respect, and follow-through for all partners.
  • Community – to leverage community partnerships in service of a sense of belonging and loyalty to equity work through residency and apprenticeship models.
  • Empowerment – to empower stakeholders to disrupt education with the implementation of successful residency and apprenticeship models.  
  • Differentiated Support – a razor-sharp focus on context-specific, responsive support to each program.
  • Joy – to lead with joy, laughter, and excitement as we engage in equity work. 
  • Leadership -To lead, advocate, and provide clarity within the uncharted territory of residency and apprenticeship programs, even when uncomfortable.

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Since 2019, the Lab has supported 170+ local education agencies, county office of education and university residency partnerships! 
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Residency Lab's Spring 2025 Mentorship Deep Dive Series

Register Today:  March 21 session and April 28 session

Statewide Residency Symposium

Thank you for attending the 2024 Annual Symposium in May!

We are pleased to have welcomed over 130 educators to Los Angeles for the 2024 Residency Lab Annual Symposium on May 2nd and 3rd! The Residency Lab would like to thank you again for joining us at the 2024 Residency Lab Annual Symposium. Our Symposium this year brought together both residency programs and experts to engage in two days of learning and inspiration. It was a pleasure to see you all in person! We hope you left feeling energized and inspired in your residency work centered in the 10 Characteristics and found partnership and leadership from other programs doing the work. As a reminder, you can find all participant resources from the event here. Read about more highlights and resources here in our newsletter.

Start planning for the 2024-2025 school year – see our lineup of events below! More information coming soon.

View a recap of our 2023 California Teacher Residency Annual Symposium! 

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WE BELIEVE that all professional support for teacher residencies in California should be:

    • research-based and tied to what we know makes teacher residencies in California most powerful and sustainable; 
    • long-term and responsive to development-specific needs;
    • rooted in equity; and 
    • aligned to and supportive of a cohesive, statewide system of teacher recruitment, preparation, and development. 
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WE SERVE as a conduit for California teacher residencies to easily access a constellation of supports based on ongoing assessments of development and need.
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WE DEVELOP the capacity of California teacher residencies to provide context-specific professional support to one another, building a system that over time evolves to support and sustain itself. Read more about our plans: Building a Statewide Teacher Residency Support System 
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Need Support with Your Residency Program?

SRTAC Hub Leads and Residency Lab Coaches are available now to provide you with coaching or the support you need. Please complete a brief questionnaire so that we can better coordinate your support.

REQUEST COACHING SUPPORT

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Visit our new Resource Library!

A single site packed with resources, links, and technical assistance content that you need to be successful within your role.

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Mixed Media

Tools

CTC Website

  • Commission on Teacher Credentialing Teacher Residency Grant Program Website – funding for competitive grants to support a collaborative partnership between an eligible Local Education Agency (LEA) or a consortium of LEAs partnering with one or more Commission-approved teacher preparation programs offered by a regionally accredited institution of higher education (IHE) to expand, strengthen, improve access to, or create teacher residency programs.

Fact Sheets

View a recap of our 2023 Teacher Residency Annual Symposium! 

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View “Time for a Hard Re-set” Revisioning Education for Equity

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In August 2021, Lab leadership and experts in residency development updated the California-specific set of characteristics that all teacher residencies in the state will be expected and supported to embody over time, based on research and practitioner expertise and aligned with the statutory definition of teacher residencies. This update ensures residency programs are supported to implement “local efforts to recruit, develop support systems for, provide outreach and communication strategies to, and retain a diverse teacher workforce that reflects a local educational agency community’s diversity,” as stated legislation. 

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CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

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The Residency Lab (Lab) is proud to partner with districts and universities across the state of California to diversify the teacher workforce in service of students. The Lab is in California and has team members across the state to support residency programs to recruit, train, and retain teachers of color. We understand the California context and communities and are here to support residency programs across the state.

CURRENT AND PAST FUNDERS

ADDITIONAL PARTNERS

Our Residency Lab partnerships across the state! 

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The Statewide Residency Technical Assistance Center (SRTAC) is our active state-wide collaborator. SRTAC provides targeted, developmentally appropriate technical assistance to program participants aligned with residency program outcomes. This center represents a partnership among five County Offices of Education (COE), The Residency Lab, WestEd, and UCLA Teacher Education Program. Its primary goal is to provide targeted, developmentally appropriate technical assistance and comprehensive support to residency programs, catering to both Teacher and Counselor residencies across California. 

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In our first year of building our residency program, we had some knowledge about residencies and strongly believed in the purpose, but we didn’t quite know where to go from there. We found the support and guidance we needed through participating in the Residency Lab. The Lab provided experts who didn’t just present ideas; they actually met with us and provided assistance that met our exact needs. Most importantly, the Lab has served as a networking opportunity to connect us with people up and down the state who have experienced similar challenges. – Karin Compise, Resident @ TCSJ

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The Residency Lab supported the development and refinement of our systems and structures needed to create an effective teacher residency program. The foundation is set in Oakland, thanks to the CA Lab. So now, if and when OTR leadership changes, the residency will continue strong thanks to this strong foundation. – Zaia Vera, Oakland Teacher Residency

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As we reach out and recruit teachers in the residency program that reflect the student populations that they will work with, we’ve learned that organizing the support and emotional needs of aspiring teachers of color is paramount to their success. We’ve also learned that by listening and opening up to the discussions of race and equity as a team with mentors, student teachers, supervisors, and university instructors, we will have better success in retaining teachers of color. – North Coast Teacher Residency

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MEET OUR TEAM

Dr. Heather Michel is the director of The Residency Lab and has coordinated teacher residency programs for the last five years at various levels of implementation. Previously, Dr. Michel taught 1st and 2nd grade for 13 years before moving to higher education. Dr. Michel believes in the power of residency programs to recruit, retain, and diversify the teacher workforce. Connect with her on LinkedIn. 

Dr. Kate Herman is the Associate Director of The Residency Lab. Previously, Dr. Kate taught both special and general education in Pennsylvania, Colorado, and the Netherlands, founded the special education program at DSST: College View High School and co-founded the Greenfield Residency for Educational Specialists with CSU, Bakersfield. Dr. Kate believes residencies have the power to prepare all teachers to be inclusive. Connect with her on LinkedIn.

Dr. Tymika Wesley is an Associate Professor at California Lutheran University. She has over a decade of experience teaching in Southern California elementary schools. She serves as the university liaison for the Pathways to Teaching Residency, a collaboration between Cal Lutheran and the Santa Maria Bonita School District. Dr. Wesley believes her residency superpower is cultivating strong partnerships between LEAs and IHEs.

Holly Gonzales is faculty in Teacher Education at CSU Bakersfield and an Education Consultant for teacher residencies.  Prior to her career in higher education, Holly was an elementary teacher and Academic Coach. Holly believes her residency superpower is developing systemic residency program structures that align clinical practice and coursework to positively shift the landscape of teacher preparation. Connect with her on LinkedIn.

Dr. Rhianna Henry Casesa is an associate professor at Sonoma State University. Her area of expertise is dual-language/ (bi)literacy, and in addition to teaching and supervising credential and MA candidates, she also directs the Sonoma State University Residency Network. Prior to her work in teacher education, she was a 4th grade bilingual teacher in Chula Vista.  What is my residency superpower? I am a very creative problem solver!

Dalia Huerta is Program Coordinator for CDE Foundation. She assists The Residency Lab with administrative and event support and spearheads the effectiveness and impact of The Lab. Previously, Dalia supported a student services department at Cal Poly Pomona, offering administrative, technical, and budget management support. She believes that residencies have the potential to foster equitable access to education for students from diverse backgrounds. Connect with her on LinkedIn.

Allison Roberson is a Residency Specialist at The Residency Lab. Before joining the team, Allison served as a high school English teacher (mentoring three teacher residents), an Instructional Coach, and most recently, a Credential Program Manager. She understands the impact of strong relationships and support cultivated through residency programs and is passionate about helping others experience that transformative growth. Connect with her on LinkedIn.

Dr. Carol Battle, a Residency Specialist at The Residency Lab, is a 20+ year veteran of public education. Her experiences as “the one” African-American student and teacher in most of her academic settings have shaped and driven her pursuits in equity and diversity issues. She has taught in both Texas and California in charter and traditional school settings both in K-12 and higher education arenas. Prior to joining CDEF, Dr. Battle spent four years in Teacher Residency Administration.